"Fishing for the Temple Tax," Matthew 17:24-27; 2.1.26

Fairview family It is It is snowing hard outside

and we've made the call About today's service

and so I know you're listening to this online

and that's just not the same Certainly we miss

being together our second Sunday in a row, but

I do pray that this sermon would be edifying

for you and that it would help you to know even

more about your Savior and who you are as a disciple

of Christ. And I pray that as we are separated

from one another with these wintry conditions

that this would cause you to yearn and long even

more for together worship. and prayerfully we'll

be back at it for next Sunday and prayerfully

we'll have Wednesday together as well. Before

I preach I want to direct your attention to some

announcements here and so if you want to have

your Bible open to Matthew chapter 17 we're looking

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

at verses 24 through 27. While you do that I

want to highlight just some announcements that

were in our bulletin. And the first one I want

to announce is that next Sunday is a second Sunday

of the month, which means it's our normal time

for observing, having the Lord's Supper. And

so I pray that you would take time within this

next week to prepare yourself for that sacrament.

It's very important that we prepare our hearts,

that we examine who we are in Christ, considering

what we're doing before we come to the table.

And if there are ways in which we need to further

prepare ourselves, maybe from the last time that

we took it. And so I encourage you to do that.

And looking at passages that may help you, 1

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 11 is a great help in considering

how we prepare for the Lord's Supper. Also just

some other announcements, things that are coming

up or events. We last Sunday were again not together,

but we are supposed to have our fourth Sunday

evening worship service and after that was going

to be a missionary presentation from Corey with

the dinner and I was really looking forward to

that. We're going to postpone that and I will

let you know when we're going to have that. Also,

please note that Prayerfully, we'll be back to

having table talk this Wednesday at 5 30. I don't

know how we're going to do sign ups for food.

That's OK. I'll probably just order a bunch of

pizzas and salad and whatnot, but I hope you

can come out for that as we are able. You'll

you'll notice that we sent out communication

earlier this week about the memorial service

for Mike Williams that was supposed to be yesterday.

at 1 30 p .m. That's been rescheduled to March

the 7th at the same time of 1 30 there in the

afternoon. I want to encourage you to To write

letters and cards to Joe and Pat Payton their

address change is listed in the bulletin. They

are at 3727 Wade Cobble Drive Apartment 210 in

Burlington, North Carolina 27215 again see your

bulletin We sent these out in the Fairview columns

our weekly newsletter And so you can see that

listed in the bulletin if you're not getting

our newsletter You can go onto our website And

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assistant, and she can get you added on there.

Her email address is FPC1786 at Gmail. And so

let her know if you're not subscribed or subscribe

yourself by going to our website Just a few things

that are coming up our wick evening circle Meeting

is on February 8th at 5 p .m So that would be

next Sunday. And then Men of the Covenant, that's

actually on February 14th. However, stay tuned

whether or not we're going to have that. I recognize

that's Valentine's Day and you may wish to stay

home. Just stay tuned for further announcements

on if we're having Men of the Covenant. And then

February 22nd is fourth Sunday evening worship

at five. And looking forward to that. and then

we didn't get to go to FIKE, Fountain Inn Kid

Enrichment. We didn't get to go to that in January.

The one for February is February 23rd at Capstone

Church at 3 .30 p .m. And I hope you can participate

in that if you would like to. Well, let's take

some time now to read the text that we've actually

had scheduled for the last two Sundays here as

we continue in our sermon series through some

of the miracles of Jesus. And so the text, as

I said earlier, Matthew chapter 17 verses 24

Matthew 17:24–27

through 27 I'm gonna read this text for us and

then I'm gonna pray and then we'll get into it

when they came to Capernaum the collectors of

the two drachma tax went up to Peter and said

does your teacher not pay the tax he said yes

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke

to him first, saying, What do you think, Simon?

From whom do kings of the earth take toll or

tax? From their sons or from others? And when

he said, From others, Jesus said to him, Then

the sons are free. However, not to give offense

to them, go to the sea and cast a hook. and take

the first fish that comes up. And when you open

its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that

and give it to them for me and for yourself.

This is God's holy word. Let's pray. Father in

heaven, we thank you that in your word, we have

what we need. We know that we don't live by bread

alone, but by every word that proceeds from your

mouth It's the Lord you have given us this you

have nourished us with your word And I pray that

you will continue to do so through the preaching

of this word that you would open up our hearts

and our minds to understand what is here and

to apply it and that Through this word you will

continue to sanctify us to grow us in the grace

and knowledge of our Savior Jesus in whose name

we pray amen I Don't know who might be listening

today who is a fisherman But if you are have

you ever caught a fish and found something strange

inside? This week I ended up doing a bit of a

deep dive on the internet about Fish that were

caught and the things that were found inside

of fish People talked about finding other animals

with inside fish People talked about finding

jewelry inside of fish one man shared that he

found a spark plug in a fish that he caught Even

one man if you can believe this He said that

he found his car keys in a fish which Naturally

surfaces questions like well How did the car

keys get there and how thankful if he's telling

the truth? How thankful was he to find his keys

inside the fish that he caught those questions?

We may ask her actually the questions we may

ask similarly about this text How in the world?

Did the coin get there inside of the fish and

how thankful was Peter to catch that fish? Friends,

what we're looking at, this is not a wacky tale.

There is real truth within this episode about

who Jesus is and who we are. But what we're really

going to see from this is that Jesus does more

than just pay the temple tax for us, for all

of his disciples. Jesus pays it all. Now, this

is a sermon series on some of the miracles of

Jesus, as I said, and you might look at this

and say, well, where is the miracle? It's not

actually recorded. It's just that there is instruction

from Jesus to Peter to go fishing, and then the

miracle, if you will, will be inside of the mouth

of the fish. Now, just because we don't see Peter

do that. Think we should rightly assume that

he does out of obedience. It doesn't take away

from the miracle Because if it did Why would

Matthew even include this? Additionally, I think

Matthew is very interested in this episode about

taxes because who was Matthew? Matthew was a

tax collector. It kind of makes you wonder what

stories Matthew heard From people about not paying

for taxes the excuses that they made the dog

the dog ate my drachma, you know But you see

within the text there is this question from the

collectors to Peter Now the setting of this is

they are in Capernaum. It's perhaps likely that

they're in Peter's house Peter was from Capernaum.

And this may explain why the collectors go to

Peter to ask about Jesus. They go to the homeowner,

not to the guests. And so they ask this question.

Your teacher pays the temple tax, doesn't he?

There is something clearly behind that question.

And we're perhaps wondering if Peter understands

the weight of the question. He simply answers,

yes. Now let's think about this. Is there any

reason why Jesus would not pay the temple tax?

There could be three that I've come up with.

Three possible reasons, and some of them more

possible than others, why Jesus would not pay.

First of all, some groups disagreed with paying

the temple tax. Some groups of people thought

in Jesus' day that the temple was corrupt and

therefore were just not going to pay that. I

don't think that that's Jesus, do you? Secondly,

there were charitable groups that were not required

to pay for this. So we're thinking of rabbis

and priests who were not required to pay this

tax. So perhaps Jesus falls into that category.

After all, he is called a teacher, a rabbi throughout

this. As for the third reason, maybe just hold

on to that thought because the third reason I'm

going to give to you relates to who Jesus is.

It's also important for us to say this. The temple

tax was not... bad. It was not a Roman tax. There's

really no problem with paying for most people

because it supported the work of the temple.

Matter of fact, we can see in scripture that

this tax was commanded by God. I'm going to take

you to Exodus chapter 30. I'm going to read just

Exodus 30 · chapter mention

a little bit of this starting in verse 11. The

Lord said to Moses, When you take the census

of the people of Israel Then each shall give

a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number

them That there be no plague among them when

you number them each one who is numbered in the

census shall give this half a shekel According

to the shekel of the sanctuary the shekel is

20 garaz half a shekel an offering to the Lord.

Everyone who is numbered in the census from 20

years old and upward shall give the Lord's offering.

The rich shall not give more and the poor shall

not give less than the half shekel when you give

the Lord's offering to make atonement for your

lives." And so people have called this and I

think rightly a ransom. It's symbolized salvation

for people and their need for God. Additionally,

it wasn't all that expensive. We're talking about

half a shackle or two drachma. And so it's not

like Jesus couldn't pay this, as we're gonna

see. Jesus is not limited in his resources. And

so what does Peter say to the question? He simply

replies, yes. But let's think about the implications

of this. What would be the implications if Jesus

says no to this? Well, it could imply that Jesus

is in these groups of exemption. Perhaps that

he is a rabbi or a priest, which he kind of is,

but how would that sit? with other priests back

in Jerusalem, they might not like that. Also,

the tax is commanded again by God, just like

I read from Exodus chapter 30. And so if Jesus

Exodus 30 · chapter mention

doesn't have exempt status, but he says no, this

would appear to be a disobedience to scripture.

But let's think about this. If Jesus says yes,

which you see here, Peter answers for him. If

it's yes, well, what does this imply about Jesus?

To the tax collectors is Jesus just a regular

guy with no special standing before the tax collectors

even though the collectors are asking and So

there's a kind of a lot on the line here Peter

as you see he says yes and Then Jesus talks to

Peter look if you will back into the text at

verse 25 So he says yes, and when he came into

the house Jesus spoke to him first saying what

do you think Simon? From whom do kings of the

earth take toll or tax? from their sons or from

others And Peter answers rightly from others,

but you might think well Why is Jesus suddenly

talking about kings and sons? What's going on

here? Jesus is laying out the case for why he

and his disciples don't have to pay. Remember

how I said there's a third reason. Jesus is giving

the real reason that he is exempt and yet he's

going to pay the tax anyway. This relates to

a couple of discussions from Paul. his letter

to the Romans in chapter 14 of that book and

1st Corinthians chapter 8 this discussion from

Paul on food sacrifice to idols and whether Christians

should eat such food so I want to take you to

1st Corinthians chapter 8 verses 3 through 9

and it reads in this way But if anyone loves

God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the

eating of food offered to idols, we know that

an idol has no real existence, and that there

is no God but one. For although there may be

so -called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed

there are many gods and many lords, yet for us

there is one God, the Father, from whom are all

things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus

Christ, through whom are all things, and through

whom we exist. However, not all possess this

knowledge. But some Through former association

with idols eat food as really offered to an idol

and their conscience being clean is defiled or

being weak is defiled Food will not commend us

to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat

and no better off If we do but take care That

this right of yours has not somehow become a

stumbling block to the weak and I included there

in verse 9 what's What what does this have to

do with the temple tax you may asking what Paul

is saying here is It wasn't wrong to eat the

food sacrificed to the idols because the idols

are what they they are nothing And so he essentially

says go for it Unless and unless is an important

word here unless you are around a weaker believer

He is getting at Christian Liberty people confuse

Liberty with the freedom to do whatever you like.

You say, well, I've been saved by Jesus. I've

punched my ticket to heaven. But Christian liberty

isn't really that. Christian liberty says you

have freedom and that you are freed from your

enslavement to sin. But you're not just freed

from something, you're freed to something. You

are freed in Christ to serve him and his church.

And so even though you may not be under this

obligation or that, there are other considerations

at hand. Jesus, he's considering other people.

He's considering the tax collectors, and he's

not looking to bring unnecessary trouble upon

him or his disciples. The text says not to give

offense, and so seeking not to give offense,

Jesus seeks to pay the temple tax. Consider these

words from a commentator who said Even though

Jesus could exercise his right to kingship He

did not want to give offense Especially not by

cute excusing himself as well as Peter from paying

taxes Jesus did not want to cause any trouble

from the tax collectors and their superiors They

certainly would not have accepted his claim to

kingship They wouldn't have accepted it, right?

Jesus is not looking to cause, as I've said,

trouble for the sake of trouble, right? Jesus,

he'll ruffle feathers at times sometimes, but

not without reason, not without cause. Jesus

seeks to keep the peace, doesn't he? He shows

he has a great concern for tax collectors. He

doesn't seek to offend them and there's something

here for us. Do you Christian bring unnecessary

trouble on yourself or upon others with your

speech or your actions? Do you Christian enjoy

offending others or are you considerate of others?

Do your actions, do your words make it easy or

more difficult to share? the gospel. Do you like

to stir the pot for the sake of simply stirring

the pot? Friends, Jesus did not behave in this

way, did he? There's purpose to every single

thing that Jesus does. Think of the times that

Jesus does ruffle feathers when it was necessary,

like the time when he drives out the money changers

and he says, you've made this place a den of

robbers. That was necessary to doing something

very wrong. Or Matthew 15, where it says the

Pharisees were offended by Jesus' teaching on

uncleanliness and uncleanliness. Why does he

offend them? Well, the people were leading, the

leaders were leading people astray, and so Jesus,

he corrects their teaching, and they're offended

by that. But he doesn't do it unnecessarily.

And so please see that this episode is not that.

Jesus pays the tax. Even when he didn't have

to Really what Jesus is doing is he's upholding

the law and beyond that and so are we? Looking

to offend unnecessarily Friends the gospel will

offend because people don't want to hear that

they are sinful They don't want to hear the truth

But we're gonna get we're really not gonna get

very far in our evangelism for looking to offend

unnecessarily. I like how another commentator

put this, who said of this, a miracle is worked

rather than offend a tax collector. A miracle

is worked rather than offend a tax collector.

And so we need to learn here from Jesus. It's

also interesting here is we've looked at other

miracles of Jesus. This time we actually see

the miracle benefiting Jesus, which we really

don't see very much in the other miracles. Because

who was supposed to be paying this? The tax collectors

are asking, does Jesus pay this or not? And so

when he sends Peter to go fishing, he's saying,

go get this money to pay the tax. But really,

Jesus is not looking to benefit himself. What

I think Jesus is really doing here is making

a statement about his deity. Since the tax supports

the temple and the temple is for the worship

of God, think about it. Would God, the father,

require the tax of his son? Think about it this

way. Think about restaurant owner real nice restaurant

really good food reasonable prices doing pretty

well for itself popular place let's say the son

of the restaurant owner comes for a meal is the

father gonna charge the son for the meal probably

not right well Jesus here he is the son of God

and therefore is exempt but he pays it anyway.

Now notice something when he talks about sons

the word sons here is plural and so we should

think that this includes the disciples specifically

here in this story Peter. But please see this

Jesus does something far greater than pay the

temple tax for himself and for Peter. What this

should illustrate to us as sons of the King is

how we can become sons. How do we join the family?

Today, if we were working our way through the

entire liturgy, the service, we had our affirmation

of faith from Westminster Shorter Catechism number

34, and it asks this question, what is adoption?

And the answer is this, adoption is an act of

God's free grace, whereby we are received into

the number. and have a right to all the privileges

of the sons of God. We join the family by God's

grace as the Holy Spirit applies Christ to our

lives as we have faith. I was in a discussion

recently with somebody who told me that all people

who are created are God's children. And maybe

that sounds nice, but it's just not true. We

are made children of God by Jesus' redeeming

effort. Consider some verses to back this up.

1 John chapter 3 verse 2 puts it like this, beloved,

1 John 3:2

we are God's children now. and what we will be

has not yet appeared. But we know that when he

appears, we shall be like him, because we shall

see him as he is. We are, friends, we are God's

children right now. John's writing to believers,

but also consider just from the gospel of John,

chapter one, verse 12. But to all who did receive

him, who believed in his name, He gave the right

to become children of God who were born not of

blood Nor of the will of the flesh nor of the

will of man but of God we are made children of

God by God as He justifies us with the righteousness

of Christ and adopts us into his family We are

only children of God if Jesus is our Savior and

our brother So please see as this as Jesus is

telling what Peter what to do. He's he's teaching

him Isn't he he's teaching all of us as we as

we examine this great word from him Jesus turns

this simple question from these collectors into

a teaching moment right now look at verse 27

as Jesus tells Peter to do something He has done

probably hundreds of times, I'll read it again.

However, not to give offense to them, go to the

sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that

comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will

find a shekel. Take that and give it to them

for me and for yourself. Jesus tells Peter to

do something he's done. So many times, go fishing.

And as this instruction comes and we see what

is really miraculous, we see something about

Jesus, his sovereignty over creation, right?

You kind of wonder. What is Peter thinking about

Jesus with this instruction is Jesus losing it

here perhaps remember this is chapter 17 So we've

Isaiah 17 · chapter mention

seen a lot of things happen here Peter's seen

it all so he's trusting in Jesus Friends this

is not a weird story about catching fish with

money inside Jesus is demonstrating his divine

knowledge and power and the accomplishment of

adoption for his people. Remember the point of

the story. Jesus is making this claim that he

is the son of God. And so Jesus doesn't simply

remind Peter of this. He shows him this by doing

something that would have hit home with Peter

as a fisherman. That Jesus has unlimited resources.

And this will be crucial. This will be crucial

because Jesus is preparing his disciples for

when he will go to the Father and they will continue

his mission. Jesus is saying through this miracle,

trust me and I will supply your needs. Perhaps

Philippians chapter 4 is one that you've memorized.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Perhaps it's one that has given you comfort in

the past. Philippians 4 .19 says this, and my

God will supply every need of yours according

to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And so

Christian, what do you need today? Do you trust

that Jesus can meet your needs? Do you really?

Jesus tells Peter to cast that line and find

that shekel. But also consider this, the tax

is only two drachmas. So why the shekel? Well,

clearly Jesus isn't paying for himself only.

He pays for Peter too. And inside that fish is

the exact amount needed for one shekel equals

two drachmas. Jesus indeed provides exactly what

we need. And Jesus exhibits humility in paying

when he didn't have to. It's not expected that

a king would pay his own taxes. It's actually

beneath the king. And so this whole thing is

showing the humility of Jesus. and the presence

of God because this tax went towards the work

of the temple and the temple represents God's

presence. We've just gone through the Christmas

season, Emmanuel, God with us. Rick Phillips

at Second Pres says, why pay for the symbol when

he himself is the reality to which the symbol

points? Jesus lowered himself for us. Jesus lowered

himself for this and for so much more. Consider

Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. Do nothing

Philippians 2:3

from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility

count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests

but also to the interests of others and let's

keep going verse 5. Have this mind among yourselves

which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he

was in the form of God did not count equality

with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself

by taking the form of a servant being born in

the likeness of men. being found in human form

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the

point of death even death on a cross and therefore

God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him

the name that is above every name so that at

the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven

and on earth and under the earth and every tongue

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory

of God the Father And so you see all of this

is more, it's more than just about paying taxes,

isn't it? I said how Jesus is really preparing

his disciples for the cross. And this is very,

very true because what appears just before this

episode, if you still have Matthew 17 open. Go

just before our sermon text and look in chapter

17 verses 22 and 23 as they were gathering in

Galilee Jesus said to them the son of man is

about to be delivered into the hands of men and

they will kill him and he will be raised on the

third day and they were greatly distressed He

doesn't want them he doesn't want peter any of

them to forget that He, Jesus, is the Son of

God. And so what is the Son of God doing on the

cross? Well, we saw it from Philippians 2. He's

securing our salvation. Remember the very thing

the temple tax pointed towards, atonement. This

is what Jesus accomplishes for us. And He's free

to do it. Jesus had the power to call down the

angels. But He doesn't do it. Because... He went

to the cross because it was the only way. He

goes to the cross to exclaim, it is finished

for God's children. What this story means then

is really that because of Jesus, his life and

his death and the gift of faith and being adopted

into God's family, that we have special status

as God's children, that God gives us what we

need. You see, Jesus doesn't just pay the temple

tax for us. No, friends. We should understand.

We must understand that Jesus paid it all. You,

Christian, were bought with a price. And Jesus

pays the exact amount. Nothing more and nothing

less. He paid it. He paid it with His own blood.

Christian, you indeed were bought with a price.

Jesus has purchased you to bring you into his

marvelous light. Let us praise God for that today

and every single day. Let's pray. Glorious Father

in heaven above, how we do thank you. How would

he praise you and bless your name for salvation

in Christ alone he Who has set us free from all

the power of the devil and taken us out of darkness

and into light father Thank you that jesus would

pay Pay it all for us Lord help us to be more

and more Thank you and thankful and would you

give us the humility of Christ the mind of Christ?

Help us not look to offend unnecessarily But

help us to look out for others And share the

gospel these things we ask in Christ name. Amen

The The hymn of response in your bulletin is,

I surrender all, number 366. And I would encourage

you to look up the lyrics for that. Take time

today to sing that. What a great hymn that is,

because quite frankly, as we sing those words,

I surrender all, we realize that Jesus really

surrendered Himself for us. And so the reason

that we can sing that is because of Him, right?

And so take time, if you will, to sing that.

It's okay. It's a good thing to sing in your

homes. I know that you do. And so we can sing.

We should sing good, good hymns, even from our

homes, even on a day like today. Well, friends,

thank you so very much for listening today. and

prayerfully we will be back together on Wednesday

and certainly on the next Lord's Day. If you

have any needs that we can help with, please

reach out to a shepherding elder, reach out to

a deacon, reach out to just one another. Let's

bear one another's burdens. Let us be there for

one and all, for each other. And now would you

just give attention. To this benediction from

2nd Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 the grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God

the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you

all Amen